Blues Legend B.B. King is Coming to Tyler — Get Your Tickets NOW [CONTEST,UPDATED]

You read that right, B.B. King is coming to Tyler. This is an amazing chance to see one of the music world's kings and legends here in our little corner of East Texas. Will you make the bad choice to miss him? I hope not.

Stanley's Famous Pit BBQ and Larry Shaeffer have done us all a great favor in presenting B.B. King at Caldwell Auditorium. Tickets are on sale at Stanley's BBQ and online, so there is no excuse to not grab one for an experience that will make the stories for generations to come. This show, set for January 17th, will be a once in a life time experience that will never be recreated.

There are a lot of rumors floating around that the tickets for this show are sold out. This is not true. There are still more than a thousand spots left in the auditorium for blues fans. It would be a great tragedy to have such a legend as B.B. King come and perform for empty seats. Go down to Stanley's Famous Pit BBQ right now and get your tickets for this amazing music experience. This will probably never happen again folks, so don't leave something to regret later in life. Come get your fill of awe inspiring blues right in your city.

This 87-year-old musician has been the reigning king of blues longer than some of us have been alive. His recording career began in the 1940s, that alone is great feat. How many other artists can you think of at his age with that length of a career are still out on the road and recording?

Coming to Tyler is a man obsessed with making music. His songs and especially his guitar are what allow him to breathe. His guitar style is one of the most recognizable in all of music history. Even the most novice of blues fans can identify a B.B. King song within the first few notes strummed. Almost everyone has a favorite song or story of the king.

One great example of not only his love of music and his guitar, but a great story for all to appreciate is about a fire that almost took his guitar and left him with a lesson.

One night while King was performing for a dance in Arkansas in the 1950's, two men started a fire that made history. On stage, B.B. King played all the crowd's favorites and on the floor trouble began to rise. Two men started to brawl. This fight became unruly and out of control. The scuffle knocked a kerosene stove toppling over, catching the dance hall ablaze. King ran to safety with the rest of the people in attendance, but quickly realized he had left his beloved guitar back in the flames. He ran into the face of danger to save the thing that allowed him to live and make music. When King learned that the men had been fighting over a woman, he decided that he never wanted to make such a mistake. He decided to name his saved guitar after the woman that caused such a ruckus. Lucille is now the name that is given to every guitar after that first was made into an example of what can be lost with such silliness.

There are not many stories of someone running into a burning building for something less than the thing he loves most. This story shows how near and dear music is to the man. Music may be the very thing that makes B.B. King, he may not be able to live without the songs emitted from his guitar and belted from his throat. This all makes sense when you hear that he is still playing music at such an advanced age.

The love of music this man carries can be intoxicating. The dedication and tenacity he shows for creating it and then sharing it with the rest of us is to be commended. He is a legend. He is what has slowly been squeezed from the music industry. There are no men like him performing and recording any more. It is a sad thought to think once he ceases to play, the world might have seen the extinction of grand music and great musicians.

To see such a hopeless future come without seeing the last great play would make the skies a little more grey and terrifying. Do not miss out on your chance to experience this greatness. Do not let the world change without seeing how awesome it once was.

Let your mind, body, and soul vibrate with the emotions that cannot just be heard, but felt.

How a stranger you have never really known but is so close to your heart can play an instrument that speaks the words you couldn't find. How a song told about all of your heart breaks and hard times without being about you. How just one man influenced so much of your life and the world around, with just words and a guitar. These are the things that you will will know after seeing B.B. King perform for you.

Give an old man the respect he deserves and make his trip to our city worth it. Come in the masses and crowd the streets, our king has come to town.

You could win a pair of tickets now! Simply text "KING" to 89000 and you could instantly win a pair of tickets!